Imagine holding five cards: mud, pillow fights, potato chips, getting married, and brothers.
On the table, the judge reveals an adjective card: noisy. Your task is to select one card from your hand that fits this description and justify your choice. Every player does the same.
While pillow fights is an obvious candidate—evoking images of excited, screaming children—another player might counter with a card like going to a concert. They could argue a concert is far louder due to roaring crowds and speakers blasting at maximum volume. If the judge agrees that concerts are the loudest option, that player wins the adjective card.
This game is called Apples to Apples. It serves as an excellent tool for students to practice vocabulary, comparative adjectives, and superlative adjectives. Most importantly, it teaches young learners how to construct evidence-based arguments to support their claims. Although the gameplay often sparks highly creative, off-the-wall reasoning, the fundamental exercise of defending a statement is an essential skill for expository writing. I highly recommend this game as a fun, engaging way to introduce these concepts to younger students.